2023-2024 NCAAF Official Thread

[Birdman]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

[tazzmaniac]

I know I know, cheating allegations and all. But this Michigan team is an absolute wagon. Already up 17-0 early on Purdue. To their credit they seem to just blow out teams every week. Barely any "shaky" performances or "scares" by the opponent, it's just business as usual in blowouts

Well they're actually playing someone other than a Tomato Can next week, so we'll see what happens 

Penn State at least has a pulse but they also have played a weak schedule.  Penn State dominates the weaker Big Ten teams but they can't compete with OSU and Michigan when Michigan is actually good.  The question is whether Michigan is actually good this season. 

One person who I expect is secretly rooting for Penn State is the Big 10 commissioner.  The other Big 10 schools are really on him to put Michigan's Wolverine head on a platter now not wait for the foot-dragging NCAA investigation to be done.   

[Phantom255x]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

I think it has to do with strength of schedule. Michigan has played cupcakes most of this season so far, and up until yesterday so had Georgia. That said, both teams are now gonna play some tough teams going forward so things could "even out". To their credit they have taken care of business, but OSU does have some signature wins like Notre Dame on the road, Penn State.

Ultimately I still think it'll be Florida State, Washington, and then the winners of Georgia-Alabama (SEC Championship Game) and Ohio State-Michigan (final week) making the playoffs barring a major upset before that for anyone. It's gonna come down to all that anyways. Still a lot of football to be played.

Alabama really impressed me yesterday. I mean if Milroe is going to be as decisive and aggressive as he was last night with his arms and especially legs, they'll be tough for anyone, even Georgia later on.

[Moranis]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

[Donoghus]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

I would not be surprised at all if Louisville takes out Florida State in the ACC title game.

Cardinals seem to play up or down to the competition. Baffling to me that they lost to Pitt & struggled with IU but I think they have a really good chance to take down the Noles

[tazzmaniac]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

That 6-win team is Rutgers.  You couldn't even mention them by name.  They now have a 0-10 record against OSU.  OSU beating Rutgers is the equivalent to Bama beating Vandy.  Regardless of their record, beating them should be a given.  Bama also beat a 6-win team yesterday that being LSU.  Just shows the wide gap there can be between 6-win teams. 

[celticsclay]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

That 6-win team is Rutgers.  You couldn't even mention them by name.  They now have a 0-10 record against OSU.  OSU beating Rutgers is the equivalent to Bama beating Vandy.  Regardless of their record, beating them should be a given.  Bama also beat a 6-win team yesterday that being LSU.  Just shows the wide gap there can be between 6-win teams.

I’ve followed college football for close to 30 years at this point and this is definitely the first time I saw someone crowing about beating Rutgers lol.

[tazzmaniac]

I guess the big CFB news of the day is that Alex Grinch finally got fired.  I was watching Bama/LSU and Washington/USC side by side.  I know the LSU defense is bad this season but the USC defense looked hopeless.  Next game up for USC is Oregon so it could get even uglier. 

[Moranis]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

That 6-win team is Rutgers.  You couldn't even mention them by name.  They now have a 0-10 record against OSU.  OSU beating Rutgers is the equivalent to Bama beating Vandy.  Regardless of their record, beating them should be a given.  Bama also beat a 6-win team yesterday that being LSU.  Just shows the wide gap there can be between 6-win teams.

I said they covered the spread against a 6 win team on the road.  That is absolutely a true statement.  I never said Rutgers was any good, but they are certainly better than 2-7 Pitt, who FSU played on the road and did not cover the spread.  Rutgers and FSU both played Va Tech, they had nearly identical margins of victory. 

I have no idea how good LSU is.  They lost to the only D1 team they played in the non-con (FSU in basically a home game) and Missouri is their only good win in the SEC.  Missou is definitely a quality win, but the LSU defense is giving up a lot of points and doing so to bad teams (they've just outscored most of them).  I'd expect LSU to beat Rutgers just from name recognition alone, but I don't know that they would as they haven't shown anything that would lead to that conclusion.

[tazzmaniac]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

That 6-win team is Rutgers.  You couldn't even mention them by name.  They now have a 0-10 record against OSU.  OSU beating Rutgers is the equivalent to Bama beating Vandy.  Regardless of their record, beating them should be a given.  Bama also beat a 6-win team yesterday that being LSU.  Just shows the wide gap there can be between 6-win teams.

I said they covered the spread against a 6 win team on the road.  That is absolutely a true statement.  I never said Rutgers was any good, but they are certainly better than 2-7 Pitt, who FSU played on the road and did not cover the spread.  Rutgers and FSU both played Va Tech, they had nearly identical margins of victory. 

I have no idea how good LSU is.  They lost to the only D1 team they played in the non-con (FSU in basically a home game) and Missouri is their only good win in the SEC.  Missou is definitely a quality win, but the LSU defense is giving up a lot of points and doing so to bad teams (they've just outscored most of them).  I'd expect LSU to beat Rutgers just from name recognition alone, but I don't know that they would as they haven't shown anything that would lead to that conclusion.

If you don't understand Rutgers is the equivalent to Vandy, you don't know college football.  If Rutgers played LSU's schedule, they'd probably be a 3-win team.  LSU gave up 31 points to Arkansas.  The other "bad teams" on their schedule scored less than 20 points.  LSU's got one of the top offenses in the country.  They lost 55-49 on the road at Ole Miss.  I assume you understand the vast difference between the quality of the players OSU recruits versus the quality that Rutgers recruits.  LSU recruits nearly as well as OSU.  Even in an off year, LSU poses a threat to top teams.  Rutgers in their best year is no threat. 

[Moranis]

How Ohio State #1 is beyond me…Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, couple others will wax them..

Ohio State has a really really good defense.  Lots of talent.  Now it may not be enough against the best offenses because the OSU offense has been choppy, but Henderson looks healthy now and he is an excellent RB.  He can be a difference maker along with BY FAR the best pass catchers in the sport.  If the OL just played better, the Buckeyes wouldn't struggle so much at times. All that said they coveted the spread against a 6 win team in the road yesterday.

I have no idea what you see in FSU.  I mean they struggled with 2-7 Pitt yesterday, barely beat BC, beat Clemson in OT.  All on the road. Not a great road team (though the LSU game was in LA). I'd be very surprised if they beat OSU at a neutral site.

That 6-win team is Rutgers.  You couldn't even mention them by name.  They now have a 0-10 record against OSU.  OSU beating Rutgers is the equivalent to Bama beating Vandy.  Regardless of their record, beating them should be a given.  Bama also beat a 6-win team yesterday that being LSU.  Just shows the wide gap there can be between 6-win teams.

I said they covered the spread against a 6 win team on the road.  That is absolutely a true statement.  I never said Rutgers was any good, but they are certainly better than 2-7 Pitt, who FSU played on the road and did not cover the spread.  Rutgers and FSU both played Va Tech, they had nearly identical margins of victory. 

I have no idea how good LSU is.  They lost to the only D1 team they played in the non-con (FSU in basically a home game) and Missouri is their only good win in the SEC.  Missou is definitely a quality win, but the LSU defense is giving up a lot of points and doing so to bad teams (they've just outscored most of them).  I'd expect LSU to beat Rutgers just from name recognition alone, but I don't know that they would as they haven't shown anything that would lead to that conclusion.

If you don't understand Rutgers is the equivalent to Vandy, you don't know college football.  If Rutgers played LSU's schedule, they'd probably be a 3-win team.  LSU gave up 31 points to Arkansas.  The other "bad teams" on their schedule scored less than 20 points.  LSU's got one of the top offenses in the country.  They lost 55-49 on the road at Ole Miss.  I assume you understand the vast difference between the quality of the players OSU recruits versus the quality that Rutgers recruits.  LSU recruits nearly as well as OSU.  Even in an off year, LSU poses a threat to top teams.  Rutgers in their best year is no threat.

Sure, there is a reason Kelly left ND to go to LSU, but that also doesn't mean LSU is a great team this year.  They might not even be a good team, though I suspect they are.  Schiano is back at Rutgers and he has done well there.  He is building the program back up.  They've invested in their facilities.  As for the schedule, I'm pretty sure Rutgers would have also beaten Grambling, Miss. St., Arkansas, Auburn, and Army.  Probably would have lost to FSU, Bama, and Miss like LSU did and probably would have lost to Missou also.  So I'd peg Rutgers at 5-4 with LSU's schedule.  LSU would have lost to Michigan and Ohio St., though probably would have beaten Wisconsin (though I feel like Rutgers would beat them if they played again), so 7-2 for LSU.  The best teams in the country should beat both of them though and should do so easily.  I just don't think LSU is so much better than Rutgers that it matters to the top teams.  Of course, I didn't mention LSU since FSU played 2-7 Pitt and didn't cover the spread. 

[Roy H.]

There's been a ton of discussion about Caleb Williams sobbing after the Washington game.  Some idiots in the media have said this makes him undraftable, which is obviously just click bait.  But, does it change the perception of him at all?  What does crying in sports tell you?

My perspective?  If you're crying during a game -- with the outcome of that game still in question, in particular -- then I might question the athlete's mental toughness.  When Glen Davis started crying on the sidelines because KG chewed him out, that might be a sign of the guy lacking something.  (I say might, because who knows what else BBD was dealing with that night?)

But, if a guy cries after a tough loss?  That's a nothingburger, just like if a guy cries after winning a title.  Williams played a hell of a game and fell short.  There's emotion there.  And, for those calling him a mama's boy for seeking out his mother?  I tip my hat to him for having a tight relationship with his mom.

[Moranis]

I admit the crying after that game in that manner struck me as weird. 

[Phantom255x]

I don't mind the crying after a loss. These guys invest a lot and are emotional. I get it. Others like Embiid have done the same after a tough loss.

But I will say, Caleb Williams definitely needs to tone it down a bit. His remarks about "wanting part ownership on his next NFL team". Basically already putting out a list of the teams he'd play for (and not play for everyone else). It's one thing to be confident and cocky but even that needs to be toned down a bit for every athlete.

Frankly, while he did have an awesome game against Washington, in the other two losses he really wasn't great especially the Notre Dame game (3 INTs). Also was pretty meh against an unranked Arizona team they needed 3 OT to beat.

[Donoghus]

PAC-12 sure is going out with a bang.  Two more big matchups this weekend.   

Utah @ Wash
USC @ Ore

Their big games have been entertaining as hell.